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Vanderbilt Football Recruiting: A Deeper Look at Recent Commit Donaven Tennyson

A Look at How Donaven Lord Tennyson Fits the Roster for 2016 and Beyond, As Well As How Early He May See The Field.

By Russ Johnson
Student Sports

Donaven Lord Tennyson committed to coach Mason and his staff about a week ago after visiting the campus a short while back. The speedy wideout became the third member of Vanderbilt's class of 2016. The purpose of this article is to dive deeper into Tennyson's skills, and how they are able to translate when he makes the trip to #NashVegas 16 months from now.

According to his 247Sports profile, Tennyson is rated as a consensus three-star wide receiver, and is a considered a top-50 recruit in the under-rated Vanderbilt pipeline Virginia. Tennyson committed to the 'Dores over offers from several other Power 5 schools such as Michigan State, Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia to name a few. Tennyson has prototypical size coaches look for in a slot receiver (5-foot-10, 170 pounds) and coach Mason and his staff wasted no time waiting to offer him, reportedly making a scholarship available towards the end of the 2015 cycle.

Tennyson will have the opportunity to come in and contribute as a freshman, catching passes from fellow #AnchorDown commit Deuce Wallace or any of the quarterbacks currently on the roster, Tennyson, Quillen, and Wallace form a solid trio for Derek Mason to build this class around, and by the looks of twitter, the three of them are already becoming better acquainted with one another.

From the moment the highlights go on, two things are instantly apparent and steady from beginning to end; his elite speed and the explosiveness he shows coming off of cuts and with the ball. Tennyson may not be as polished a route-runner as others in the SEC are, but he makes up for that with a deceptively large catch radius, as well as the ability to take the top off of a defense with his 4.4 speed. He specializes in the slot position because of his ability to create consistent separation between himself and the secondary.

Donavan Lord Tennyson will step on campus day-one as a strong candidate to return kicks or punts, and return them well. His combination of speed, agility, and the ability to make defenders miss in the open field all give him the profile of an early contributor at Vanderbilt. He has what it takes to make plays in this conference, but he is also extremely excited about the challenge that awaits academically.

All in all, Tennyson is the type of triple-threat Vanderbilt looks for in a future 'Dore: a proven winner (2014 State Champion), a prolific athlete (25 YPC in 2014), and lastly someone who has the ability to thrive academically at a school with the academic standards as high as they are here. What more could we ask for in a future student-athlete?

Check out his highlights and his ability to make plays on a consistent basis, courtesy of Hudl:

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